Being an intentional anti-racist therapist
The recent events in the United States are a sad reminder of how racism continues to flourish in our world and how it impacts us all.
To be honest, it wasn’t until university when I truly started becoming more sensitive to the racist messages that exist within our society and aware of the white privilege. The messages come in the form of jokes, conversations, and images in the news and entertainment industry, among others. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine that makes us immune to these messages and denying their impact is to deny being human.
What we can do, however, is to strive for greater self-awareness and understanding all in the name of becoming a better person who contributes to a better world. I was extremely fortunate during my doctoral training to be given a safe space to explore the ways these messages impacted my beliefs about others which, in turn, provided opportunities for deeper self-reflection, self-awareness, and personal growth. This was an important first step in what I consider to be a lifelong journey of self-exploration and growth and one that serves me well as I strive to be an intentional anti-racist therapist.
There are so many important resources on these topics that are available online and in print, and we encourage you to investigate them further in line with what resonates best with you. But, as a simple place to start, we welcome you to take a few minutes to check out this short and valuable video resource from Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis and NICABM: